New York Times cites new nicotine delivery findings by UMMS, DPH

By Lisa M. Larson

UMass Medical School Communications

January 24, 2014

A New York Times editorial calling on regulators to crack down on “devious” tactics tobacco companies use to make cigarettes more addictive than ever cites new research by UMass Medical School and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health exposing the change in nicotine delivery among cigarette makers.

“It is equally shocking to learn now that some of today’s cigarettes may be more addictive than those smoked in past years, most likely because the manufacturers are designing them to deliver more nicotine to the lungs to induce and sustain addiction,” writes the New York Times editorial board, in “Even More Addictive Cigarettes,” published in the Jan. 24 edition. “That devious tactic requires a strong response by regulators.”

The study, published last week in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research, found that the amount of nicotine delivered via smoke, known as nicotine yield, increased sharply from 1998 to 2012, even as the total amount of nicotine in cigarettes has leveled off. Thomas Land, PhD, director of the Office of Health Information Policy and Informatics for the DPH and principal investigator of the study, and Wenjun Li, PhD, associate professor of medicine at UMMS and senior author, say the increased nicotine intake makes it easier for smokers to get addicted, and harder for them to quit.